Wout Poels moved up one place to eighth at the Tour du Poitou-Charentes after finishing Thursday's afternoon time trial stage in 18th position.

The Dutchman rode conservatively in the morning's sprint stage before clocking a time of 29 minutes and five seconds on the varied 23.2km route. That proved 1min 16sec slower than Adriano Malori, who edged out his Movistar team-mate Jonathan Castroviejo by a single second to take the victory.

Three-time world champion Tony Martin (Etixx - Quick-Step) rounded out the podium, but moved to the top of the overall standings where he now holds a 37sec advantage over Malori with one stage remaining. Poels meanwhile, sits 41 seconds further off the pace.

It was Danny Pate who came in as Team Sky's highest-ranked rider on stage four. The American took 13th place after achieving an average speed of 48.1km/h in his run.

Elsewhere, Xabier Zandio finished 61st, Luke Rowe 82nd, David Lopez 104th, Philip Deignan 108th, and Nathan Earle 128th.

The action concludes with the longest stage of the race on Friday, where the riders will tackle an undulating 197.8km passage from Gourge to Poitiers, which features two ascents of the potentially-decisive Côte de la Barre.